


The Trials of Fatherhood

by cherrytruck



Series: The Birkin Files [7]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Drabbles, Family Dynamics, Gen, I've written every version of Birkin so now it's time for domestic Birkin (or attempts to be), some very unfortunate foreshadowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 16:36:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9333638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrytruck/pseuds/cherrytruck
Summary: William Birkin doesn't make the best candidate for a good husband and father, but he does still try his best.Mostly short individual drabbles taking place in different and unrelated events - there's no chronology to them although it still makes sense if you read them in order.





	

For the first time in four years, William Birkin was able to make it home this Christmas to spend with the family. The Christmas tree decorations were minimalist, but enough for it to feel festive enough for the Birkin family.

“I can’t wait for Santa to deliver our presents!” Sherry hovered around the tree in excitement.

William was wrapping a Christmas present right in front of her. “I thought you already knew Santa doesn’t exist?”

The Christmas turned less festive as Sherry began to cry and Annette scolded William for prematurely telling Sherry about the realities of Santa. “Of course I haven’t told her Santa isn’t real yet!”

“Isn’t she a little old to still think that?”

“William! She’s only six!”

~

When Annette opened the door, she let out a brief scream when she saw the sight of her husband with an inflated arm and blood coming out of it.

“William, you gave me a fright! So is this what your costume was?! Don’t you think that’s a little excessive, even for Halloween?”

“The children loved it,” Birkin said in amusement, clearly proud of the hours he invested into his outfit. “Isn’t that right, Sherry? The two of us got a lot of candy this year.”

“We scared mum too!” Sherry laughed and gave William a high five.

~

Sherry’s school was doing one of those “bring your parent to school” days – unfortunately both he and Annette were far too busy that week and there was no way Umbrella would let them take the day off at such a critical moment in their research. William didn’t want to break Sherry’s heart by abandoning her yet again, but he had to make a compromise.

“Wesker, I know it’s a huge favour I’m asking, but you’re off for the day and I don’t trust anyone else with Sherry. Please, just for one day. Pretend you’re me and just make sure she’s happy.”

“I can’t believe this.” Wesker took off his sunglasses, already beginning the process. “I didn’t sign up to be your babysitter.”

~

When William woke up, the first thing he saw was Annette’s and Sherry’s feet on the ground.

“My dear, what were you doing lying face flat on the ground in Sherry’s room? Did something happen to you?”

“What?! Um…” Embarrassed, William got up and realized how he ended up like this. “I was putting Sherry into bed last night after a long day. I must have fallen asleep and fell onto the floor here…”

“Oh, William.” Annette laughed. “I keep telling you not to overwork yourself.”

~

It was one of the rare times William was able to pick up Sherry from school, and the look on her face was over the moon. It also made him happy to share these moments with her, even if they were brief.

Their track of happiness was interrupted as a bystander on the road suddenly collapsed on the road. There was a loud thud, and it looked as if they hit their head badly.

“Somebody help! This old lady just fainted!”

Sherry ran into the scene, gripping onto William’s hand tightly – there wasn’t much he could do to resist against her pull.

“My dad’s a doctor! He can help her!”

“Uhhhh…” Everyone was looking at him with expectations. Birkin blushed and kneeled next to the woman on the floor to observe. _Crap_ , he thought to himself. He actually had no idea what to do. He may have been a doctor but short of trying to inject people with some hazardous virus in an attempt to resuscitate them, Birkin soon realized he had no idea how medical treatment worked in the world outside of Umbrella.

~

“William,” the familiar voice of Annette called out. He sighed and went to the kitchen where his wife stood, looking cross. “Have you heard Sherry got into trouble at school?! Apparently she’s telling all the kids and teachers about…sexually explicit content! Where did our Sherry get exposed to this kind of stuff?!”

“Oh, that’s…um…well. I…”

“Yes, William?”

“It might be my fault. She asked me about where babies came from and it felt wrong to tell her something scientifically inaccurate, so I gave her the talk, and…”

“You gave her the talk already?! Without telling me?!” Annette facepalmed. “My God, William! She’s only six!”

~

“Dad, give me a bedtime story.” Sherry was tucked in neatly into bed, while William continued to search all over the room to see where on earth Annette stored those books. “Dad, what are you looking for?”

“Um…Sherry, where does mummy keep your bedtime story books?”

“Mum doesn’t use books. She gives me her own stories!”

 _Damnit_. Birkin may have had a fantastic mind when it came to his research, but he had no idea what on earth children’s bedtime stories were like. He did remember his own dad would once share things from his biology textbook, however. Maybe Sherry would like that.

He came back with one of his books and sat down besides Sherry. “How about something different? This book is called…the Molecular Basics in Virology.”

~

“Albert, I have an emergency.” Birkin spoke with panic on the phone.

“What is it?”

“I…I need you go to collect a birthday cake from that cake store on the road opposite of Umbrella’s office. Make sure it’s the chocolate flavoured cake with the flakes on the side. And ask them to add a custom message with icing and big clear letters reading, ‘Happy Birthday Sherry’. I’ll pay you back later.”

Wesker let out a groan, probably not impressed that Birkin was calling him over something that had nothing to do with their work at Umbrella. “William…why didn’t you think of doing this on your own before your daughter’s birthday?”

“I did! For once I actually did! And this one time I go out my way to BE here on Sherry’s birthday AND get the cake, this stupid brat crashed into me while I was carrying the box into the kitchen and it fell on the floor! I can’t leave the house now because Annette can’t deal with all these stupid children by herself, but the birthday cake is supposed to happen soon! Please, hurry before I go mad and stab one of these kids with a needle!”

“William, you’re hopeless. I told you parenthood would only bring you misery. But fine…I will do this thing you ask of me. I hope you have drinks if you intend for me to stay there as well.”

Birkin sighed in relief, holding the phone to his chest. Maybe they’d need a third adult to help out around the house after all. Another kid tried to run past him, which this time he was able to avoid getting hit by.

~

Birkin had to be back at his lab by five, but he was also tasked with the job of driving Sherry to her friend’s house so she could be kept there for the sleepover. A relief for both him and Annette, except this friend lived way too far from school and it would take forever for him to drive back to Umbrella if he kept to the speed limit.

He continued to pedal on, until the sounds of a siren followed him from behind. Birkin looked at the speed he was going. _Crap._

Birkin pulled over, rolled his eyes and let down the window. “Is there a problem, officer?”

“Sir, do you know how fast you were going? 50 miles an hour! That’s bad enough as it is, but I see you’re accompanied by a small child here. Did you not stop to think what harm you could’ve put her in? I’m going to have to see your license, sir.”

Birkin looked over towards Sherry, and sighed as he searched for his driver’s license. He then handed it to the officer. “It’s Doctor, by the way.”

"Yeah, because that's gonna make a difference. As a doctor surely you shouldn't be endangering lives," the policeman rattled on, as he begun to write down details on his notepad.

~

“Twenty eight…twenty nine…thirty. All right, here I come…again.”

Sherry was making Birkin play hide and seek with her in the house. They had played this so many times that he already knew all the hiding places his daughter would go for. It got boring to him quite quickly, but Sherry always found it exhilarating no matter how many times she got spotted.

He went into her bedroom and walked up to the wardrobe – 90% of the time that’s where she would hide.

“Could this be where you’re hiding?”

“Aaaah! Dad, how did you know?!” Sherry opened the door and laughed, jumping onto William. “You cheated and opened your eyes while you were counting!”

“Well Sherry, you’ve got to come up with a better hiding place than that if you want to run from your dad.” Birkin laughed with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

~

“Dad, I made some soup for you to help you feel better.” Sherry gave him a bowl of goodness knows what – it didn’t look very appetizing, and it certainly wasn’t Annette’s cooking since she hadn’t come home yet.

“Thank you Sherry. But I don’t feel like eating or drinking…” Birkin ended up with quite a bad flu this year. Not that it bothered him too much – it was fascinating to feel the way that Influenza changed from each year and the different effects it had on his body. Even while in bed, he still had some work files from his laboratory that he just wouldn’t leave alone.

“Dad! You and mum always make me drink soup when I’m ill! Come on, dad! I’ll tell mum you’ve been a bad man if you don’t drink up!”

“Oh, all right.” Birkin just wanted to be left in peace with his work, though he also didn’t want to make Sherry too worried. If drinking an unappetizing soup was what it took for some alone time, then he would try his best.

~

Birkin walked in and saw Sherry playing the videos his wedding with Annette. It was one of her favourite things to watch when they weren’t around the house to be with her.

“You’re watching this again, my dear.” Birkin joined in and sat next to Sherry on the couch, eyes focussed on the TV as he and Annette were about to exchange their wedding rings.

“Dad, why do you guys both talk about dying before you kiss?”

Birkin looked at Sherry in slight shock. “We’re not talking about dying, we’re just saying we will be together forever and the only thing that will bring us apart is death.”

“Jenny said her mum and dad are splitting up…does that mean they’re going to have to kill one of them to stop being married?”

Birkin looked even more shocked than before. Why on earth was Sherry getting these ideas for? Then again, he wasn’t one to talk – killing people for his own gain wasn’t exactly a new concept for him.

~

Birkin was only in Sherry’s room this time because he recalled he may have left a few of his books in here. By now her room was no longer the tidy and simple image he remembered from years ago. He eventually did find what he was looking for, but next to the pile of books there seemed to be a diary that had been opened to a certain page. It must have been Sherry’s. He didn’t want to poke into his daughter’s business, but he couldn’t help read what was right in his sights.

_“I miss mum and dad. Mum needs dad and dad needs to sleep more. Sometimes dad doesn’t talk to me even when he is home. Will it be like this forever? What if I never see him again?”_

“Sherry…” Birkin sighed and looked towards her empty bed. “I’m so sorry. I’ll make a breakthrough soon…I promise.”


End file.
